


A suspended star

by SlytherinSwiftiePercabethIsOtp



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, percabeth, post HOO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:35:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27189427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinSwiftiePercabethIsOtp/pseuds/SlytherinSwiftiePercabethIsOtp
Summary: Sally could hear hushed voice escaping her son's room and even though she knew she shouldn't, she leaned in to listen.OrSally overhears Percy and Annabeth's conversation
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 151





	A suspended star

**Author's Note:**

> Talk  
> Let's have conversations in the dark  
> World is sleeping, I'm awake with you  
> With you
> 
> ———————————

Sally eased herself out of the bed, careful not to wake her sleeping husband. The floorboards gave a quiet creak, as her feet landed on them, that was lost in the silence that rang through the house. She swallowed once hoping to quench her parched throat enough so she could get back into the safe haven the comforters provided. And yet, she was forced to accept that she was going to have to make the journey to the kitchen. 

She padded across the dark room, and opened the door as quietly as she could. She looked back in to make sure neither her husband nor her daughter were awakened by her nighttime capers but they remained unperturbed. The hallway stretched out in front of her and there was a certain tranquility that the still house radiated. Maybe it was the absence of the usual franticity that surrounded the space but for some reason it brought a smile to Sally's face. Of course, it wasn't totally silent, somewhere below she could here a card honking and closer there was the constant buzz of the air conditioner but all that seemed faraway, another world, another time.

She made her way to the kitchen but stopped when she reached the slightly ajar door of her son's room. The room was inky in the absence of light and from her perch she could just about make out two figures huddled together in the darkness. It was she who after all had let Annabeth and Percy share the room, on the condition that the door be left marginally open. They had agreed instantaneously and Sally had left it at that, thinking that surely her son wouldn't have sex with his girlfriend when his mom was in the next room.

She could hear hushed voice escaping the room and even though she knew she shouldn't, she leaned in to listen.

"Uh oh" she heard Percy's voice grimace

A more feminine voice spoke up, "Uh oh what?"

"I know that look, you're gonna drop some secret of the universe on me"

Sally could hear the affection that laced Annabeth's reply, "You know me so well"

"So..." 

"Um okay, so just- I don't know, like I was thinking when we were in Charleston and stuff-"

Percy hummed, signaling for her to continue.

Sally could only make out their silhouettes, mere profiles interlaced in the darkness. And maybe that's how they felt at that moment, two shadow people who didn't exist to anyone but themselves. The thought made Sally want to leave but Annabeth's next words drew her in.

"It was all very beautiful, the buildings and just everything. But it has such evil roots. So it got me thinking about how beauty and evil are entwined and maybe the only appeal for beauty is that it's necessary to cover evil. To hide it and manipulate people."

Sally couldn't wrap her mind around the words. She knew they were more sagacious than most kids their age and that they were wise beyond their years but it still hurt. It hurt to hear the pain in Annabeth's voice and it hurt to hear them talk about this like it was something they dealt with everyday. Her mind seemed to scream that they were only seventeen. At seventeen you're supposed to be dumb and optimistic and think you have it all figured out until life teaches you otherwise. Deep down, she knew though, that they were still only children who had been forced to grow up too soon by a world that didn't care for innocence. They were two kids trapped in a falling star trying not to fall too far away from each other.

Annabeth swords seemed to hang in the small gap that separated the two demigods, snow that never fell, light that never reached the Earth, maybe the star they were caught in would never collide with solid ground either. Percy's reply took a minute too long but it didn't surprise her, it merely reminded her that the two had been friends long before they started dating.

"I think I know where this is going"

"I bet you do" came Annabeth's answer. She paused before continuing, "What does that say about me Perce, if I want to build these beautiful things, ones that last a lifetime and more, does that mean I'm inherently bad?"

Her voice cracked on the last word and Sally wanted to burst into the room and comfort her, hold both of them in her arms and assure them that the world didn't deserve them. That they weren't trapped, that they were the stars.

"Hey, it doesn't mean anything, good and bad, they're ambiguous topics. Alright, nothing is essentially right or wrong it's the situation that determines it" Her son's voice was soft but not delicate, it was taking light steps but knowing exactly where to place your feet. 

"Besides," Percy continued "If beauty equates evil and all that, you'd be the evilest person on the planet" Sally couldn't help but admire the way Percy had steered the topic away. 

Annabeth's chuckle resonated within the silent apartment, "More so than...Dr. Doofenshmirtz?"

"Oh, easily"

Sally couldn't hold back her laugh. They might be kids who had been forced to mature but they were kids just the same. 

"What about Mojo Jojo?"

"Ugh this is a hard one. I mean, have you looked at that guy? He is truly gorgeous, so according to your theory he must be incredibly evil. Hmmmm. But I think you win"

Sally knew she'd intruded for way longer than she should have, and turned towards the kitchen. But as she poured a glass of water for herself, she could still hear their voices carried through to the kitchen. Maybe she could only hear them because she was listening but she didn't want to think about that. They were still laughing once she'd downed her glass and retraced her steps back to her room. 

She was just about to pass their room when their laughter that they tried desperately to keep down so as to not wake the rest of the house hold, finally died down and Annabeth spoke.

"What about you? Have any secrets of the universe you want to drop on me?"

"Nope, but I'm sure I could discover all of them in your eyes"

Then there was the unmistakable creak of the bed as Annabeth shifted to kiss Percy. And suddenly Sally wasn't so sure if her previous perception that they wouldn't have sex in their Percy's childhood room would hold true. Not wanting to see what happens next, she rushed back to her room. 

She settled into her bed while Percy's and Annabeth's conversation continued to haunt her. She knew they didn’t need the secrets of the universe as long as they had each other. And maybe that was it, the real secret of this cosmos was that there was none. No esoteric plan that gives you a life of happiness alone. Pain and agony will always find you, it’s inevitable. Maybe the truth was that it just gets easier if you find The One. The one you could confide the darkest parts of your soul to. The one who healed your scars, those which ran deeper than physical ones. The one who loved you despite and for your faults.

The one who kept your star afloat.

———————————

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr (@youcanbemytaylor) :D


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